Dave Freudenthal

A Senate hearing to "modernize the Endangered Species Act" unfolded Wednesday just as supporters of the law had feared, with round after round of criticism from Republican lawmakers who said the federal effort to keep species from going extinct encroaches on states' rights, is unfair to landowners and stymies efforts by mining companies to extract resources and create jobs.

The two-hour meeting of the Environment and Public Works Committee was led by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who said last month that his focus in a bid to change the act would be "eliminating a lot of the red tape and the bureaucratic burdens that have been impacting our ability to create jobs,"...

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A Senate hearing to "modernize the Endangered Species Act" unfolded Wednesday just as supporters of the law had feared, with round after round of criticism from Republican lawmakers who said the federal effort to keep species from going extinct encroaches...